Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Safety practices at 19 Mayis are a joke

Sometimes it takes a Turkish football virgin to see that the way we are treated at matches at the 19 Mayis Stadium is an absolute disgrace. In this particular case our new man Cafuncello Kanka is not talking about the hassles that the cops give us if the Fisherman's Friends don't mask the smell of a beer or the fact that the Genclerbirligi won't sell us season tickets for where we want to sit.

Nope, this is about safety issues. And after having read Cafuncello Kanka's report, just reflect that this is a country that actually wants to hold the Olympics... madness. Cafuncello Kanka takes over:

"I would not want to distract the attention from the soul-searching (and the new forward searching) that appears necessary to remedy Gencler's somewhat uncertain start of the season, but I am writing to signal a logistic issue.

During the internecine game with Oftas (in the first round), I felt a bit sick at half-time (no judgement on the quality of the game until then), and decided to leave the stadium. That was easier said than done!!! I found myself, and my less than rudimentary understanding of Turkish, being shuttled by well-meaning police within the stadium back and forth between the exits 7, 8 and 9, which were alas all LOCKED from the outside!!!

It took a good twenty minutes from the police OUTSIDE the stadium to come and release some 10-15 supporters who, like me, had decided to leave. There was one fellow trapped between the revolving doors and the locked exit--he took the situation with philosophy, and waited orderly between one smoke and the next. But surely this policy of doors that can be opened only from the outside poses some unnecessary hazards, if--say--the normally peaceful supporters were to turn nervous or worse and an evacuation were to be needed?